Tag: Christine

Silhouette Tutorial with Christine: Unique Embossing

Today I am going to share a neat little trick that will quickly expand your current embossing folder inventory.  I love the look of embossed paper and there is so much you can do to with them.  But what if you could make your own? Wouldn’t that be fun!  Well with your die cut machine and your Lori Whitlock files, you can do just that.
As you can see in my card and envelope set, I embossed both with a quatrefoil pattern.  That pattern can be found here, 3 Pattern Backgrounds
In the following tutorial, I’ll give you step by step instructions on how you can make your own embossing plate out of plain cardstock. Of course you can also use chipboard but if you don’t have any on hand then it’s just as easy to make it out of cardstock.
First pick your background shape.  Lori has so many beautiful ones in her store to choose from.  Here is the link to 3 Pattern Backgrounds and these 3 Doily Circles would be a lot of fun too!
Open up your Silhouette program and place your file in the top left corner of your mat.  You will need to cut out multiples of the background shape.  I cut out and used 6, but depending on the thickness of your cardstock, you may need to cut out more or less.  I used Stampin Up! cardstock and it’s fairly thick.
Use the replicate tool to duplicate the shape.  Select the first shape, then click Duplicate Right.  Select that shape and click Duplicate Below.  The last step is to click the 3rd shape and click Duplicate Left.  That should place 4 shapes on your mat that are very close to one another.
Cut out your shapes and then adhere them together with adhesive. Make sure that they are lined up correctly.  You really don’t need to use a lot of adhesive, just a little on the sides and top.  I wouldn’t recommend liquid glue unless you made sure it was completely dry because it may ooze out of the sides and ruin your paper.   If you want to use 6 layers like I did, then just recut your file.

Here is what my quatrefoil pattern background looks like cut out and adhered together.  The sandwich for my Big Shot is bottom plate, embossing mat, paper, your embossing plate, then 2 cutting plates.  You may have to change your sandwich, depending on which machine you use, but as long as you have your paper between the embossing rubber mat and the plate you will get good results.

If you start cranking your machine and the sandwich is very difficult to crank through, stop, and remove some of the layers or check to see if your sandwich is too thick.  Don’t keep pushing it as you may break your machine or injure yourself.
I always practice on another piece of paper first to make sure that I have my sandwich right and that I get a good impression.  Looks pretty good to me!
And in my last picture, you can see the embossing on the patterned paper up close.  It gives the card such a beautiful look.  Sometimes its the details that count.
The last thing that I want to mention is how making your own embossing plates out of paper gives you a little more versatility than embossing folders.  If you have a special look in mind and let’s say you want this quatrefoil pattern to only emboss into a circle, then all you have to do is use your Silhouette or manual die cut machine to cut a circle out of your cardstock paper stack and emboss it exactly where you want it.  You can’t do that with the plastic embossing folder.  So now you can really tailor make your embossing plates to suit your needs.
Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you have fun with this neat little trick.
Lori Whitlock supplies used:

And, just a reminder about the Silhouette Promotion that ends TOMORROW! Be sure to pick up a rolling tote at 25% OFF and/or some of the newly released products from CHA this month at 20% OFF. And, of course, if you need a machine it’s a great time to pick one up in a wonderful bundle. Shop here: www.silhouetteamerica.com/tote and be sure to use coupon code: LORI at checkout.

Mini Album by Christine

Time for Remembering What We are Thankful For
Since we live away from most of our immediate family, it is not often that we get to spend Thanksgiving with them.  This year, though, everyone is coming to our house for Thanksgiving and staying a few days to visit.  So, I am busy preparing for all of the company and decided I wanted to take the opportunity to document what everyone has been doing this year and what they are thankful for.

To do this, I created a little mini book, using Lori’s mini book file,  Pocket Ring Mini Album  .  It’s just perfect for this project.  First of all it is assembled using ring binding clips so you can basically add as many pages as you need, one for each person.  The pages are pockets that have a tag inside of them.  The tags are all different shapes and I can see myself using these shapes for Christmas tags as well.  Don’t you love it when you can use files for more than one purpose!  I do!  The tags will be a spot where each family member can write what they want to.  You could pull them out of the pockets and place them at their place at the dinner table or just take the whole mini book apart and place the pocket page with the tag inside at their spot.
The pockets look really cute decorated and because they are on a ring binder, you can go big and chunky with the embellishments. My book was cut out using Lori’s Reflections Fall paper collection that you created for Echo Park.  It’s a gorgeous collection and has a lot of stickers and embellishments that were perfect for this project.
On each pocket, I used the scalloped border piece from Simple Borders, sized down to decorate it a bit.
All of the stickers and 3d embellishments are part of the Fall Reflections collection.
On the back side of each pocket, which is the left side of the next page, I may put some pictures of our time together, or I could put a picture of the person who’s tag it belongs too.  I’ve also thought about putting the person’s picture in the pocket page so that when you pull out the tag you will see who it belongs too.  So many different ways to dress up this fun little mini.
And before I go, I must mention a little bit about the cover.  I found this vinyl saying in Lori’s store and thought that it captured the purpose of this mini book perfectly.  To make it easy to transfer all those small letters to the front of the mini, I decided to use vinyl instead of paper.  That way, the transfer paper could help me keep it all together.  I can’t imagine trying to glue and line up all of those little letters if I had used paper.  I think it turned out fabulous.  So don’t forget that your vinyl looks really great on paper as well as on walls.
Lori Whitlock supplies used:

Silhouette Tutorial: Sketch Pens

Have you used the Silhouette pens yet?  Well I have and have found that they are so fun to use and very versatile.   Today I have a few simple examples of how you can use the pens and then a tutorial to show exactly how easy it is to create with your own set of pens.
Lori has a bunch of fun Life Cards in her shop and I so I want to show you how you can embellish or journal on these cut files with the Silhouette pens.  My first example is a 3×4 Life Card that has a speech bubble cut into it.  I simply typed a title in the space of the bubble using Lori Whitlock’s cursive sketch font.  I’ll explain the steps on how to draw and cut your shapes below.
My second example uses the same Life Card but this time I am demonstrating how you can use the pen to do your journaling.  No need to do print and cut.  Just use your Silhouette pens. Lori has plenty of fonts to use for your journaling and the pens come in many colors so you’ll really be able to personalize your cards perfectly.
My third example is part of my tutorial.  When cut in it’s original shape, the hearts are actually cut out.  In my version I show you how you can draw the hearts instead of cutting them.  This simple technique will extend the capabilities of your digital cut files tremendously.
I’ve put together some screen shots to show you exactly what you will do to duplicate the card above.

1.  Here is what my original Life Card looks like.  I ungrouped it from the three other cards that came with it and left it the same 3 x 4 size.

2.The first thing that you will want to do is to make sure all of the pieces in the shape are ungrouped.  For this particular file, the hearts and the card shape have been combined into a compound shape because the hearts are normally cut outs.  So before you ungroup the piece, you will first need to, click the image, then go to the top menu and select Image and then Release Compound Shape.  You will then see your shape look like the picture above.  The hearts are there, they are just underneath the card piece.  (Note:  Not all files will require you to release a compound shape.  If your shape is not a compound shape, then you can just ungroup, and move to step 4)
3.  Then select all, CTRL-A, and ungroup, CTRL-U.
4.  Now we are going to go to the Cut Style menu.  This will make it easier for you to see all of the pieces of the file.  As you can see, when the Cut Style menu is open, the lines that will be cut are outlined in dark pink.  Changing the options on each of the cut lines, is how we are going to create using the Silhouette pens.
5.  The first thing we want to do is to select the outside line of the card.  When it is selected, click on the option No Cut.  This will mean that when we replace the blade with the Silhouette pen, that outline will be ignored, or Not Cut.  The pen will only “cut” or draw the hearts.  Do not change the option for the hearts at this time.
6.  Now it is time to draw the hearts.  When you click the Silhouette Cut Settings button, your view of the card will change back and you will only see the card piece again.  Don’t worry, the hearts are still there.
7.  Place your paper on your mat and load it into your machine.  Replace the blade with your selected color of Silhouette pen in the blade holder.  Make sure to close the blade holder by turning the blue piece.  Go to the menu on the screen and change the Silhouette settings to the Preset, Silhouette Sketch Pen.  Then click cut.
When it is done, do NOT unload the mat from the machine.
8.  Now we are going to cut the card out.  Go back to the Cut Style menu.  We want to cut the outside line and not cut the hearts this time.  The easiest way to do this is to Select All, CTRL-A, and then click No Cut.
9.  Then click the outside line of the card, and change that to Cut.
10.  Then go back to your Silhouette Cut Settings.  Take the Silhouette pen out of the blade holder and replace it with the blade.  Lock into place.  On the Cut Settings menu, select the Pre Set setting that corresponds to the type of material that you are cutting.  I was using white cardstock so I chose the Cardstock setting.  When ready, click cut.  Unload machine and take off your Life Card.
Here is one more example of the heart Life Card.  To do this, I selected certain hearts each time I sent it through the Silhouette machine to “cut/draw” and each time I switched out the color of pens to create the rainbow effect.
Lori Whitlock supplies:
Life Cards  (Silhouette Store)
Here & Now 6×6 paper pad by Lori Whitlock for Echo Park
Other Supplies:
White Cardstock
Silhouette Pens- original colors

Cards by Christine

Today I want to show you how you can make a card using the same die cut shape and the same paper collection and have it turn out completely different.  For both of my cards, I used  the banner shaped card from Lori Whitlock’s die cut card file, A2 Card Base Set 1. This simply shaped card can be used vertically or horizontally, though vertically it needed a little coaxing to get it to stand up straight for pictures.  To decorate the pictures, I used Lori Whitlock’s new Reflections paper and embellishment collection created for Echo Park.

My first card is a little more masculine.  There are so many papers and elements in this collection to choose from, I was able to pick colors and shapes that were better suited for a card for a woman or a man.  I used the card base horizontally for this card and decorated it with cardstock stickers that I popped up with foam adhesive.

I also adhered a bit of stickers to the inside of the card that shows when closed to add an interesting element.  The gem, in this space, is also from the collection. On my cards, I like to use the brads a little bit differently.  I really don’t like to see the prongs, so I will bend and break them off and then adhere them to the card with a little foam adhesive.  Works great every time!
My second card is definitely more feminine.  I took advantage of the floral papers and the yellow monochromatic color scheme to change the look entirely.  This time I rotated the card so that it is opened vertically.  I used the beautiful floral arrangement sticker as my focal point and topped it off with a Layered Chipboard sentiment.  The brad in this card was adhered again with foam adhesive.
Thank you for stopping by today and I want to challenge you to use card bases in different ways with just a few flips and paper changes.  You’ll find a whole bunch of die cut card base files in Lori’s store, I bet!
Lori Whitlock Supplies:
Reflections  paper collection and embellishments by Lori Whitlock for Echo Park

Silhouette Tutorial Make Your Own Belly Band

Thanks for stopping by today.  I have a tutorial that I would like to share with you on how to take a shape and make it into a belly band.  I used the 7 Shapes files so using this technique, you could have 7 different belly bands or decorative edged paper to decorate with.
This cute litte pencil cup and Post It Note Holder would make a great gift for friends, teachers, coworkers, or even look great on your own desk.  I know that is where mine is going to stay.  Even in a world filled with digital devices, I find myself reaching for a piece of paper and pencil all of the time.
Here is a close up of the belly band that I created from the label.  I also decorated the outside of the Post It Note Holder so it looks pretty even without the belly band on it.
So to make the belly band for your own Post It note holder, just follow these few easy steps.
1.  Open up on your mat, the 7 Shapes from the Lori Whitlock store.  Ungroup them, and move away all but the bottom left shape.

2.  Go to the Replicate panel and click Row of Four.
3.  Click on the first one and nudge over to the second one until the edges are just overlapping.  Do this for each shape.
4.  To make sure that everything in lined up, select all, go to the Align panel, click Align Top, and then space Horizontally.
5.  Now go to the Modify panel, keeping all of the pieces selected, and click Weld.
6.  There will be a few of the middle pieces left.  Select them all and delete.
7.  This is what your welded shapes look like together.
8.  Now we are going to make the belly band part.  Draw a rectangle across the middle of the welded shape and make sure it extends about a half inch past both ends.
9.  Select both pieces and weld them together.
10.  Here are a couple more examples of belly bands that I created using the other shapes in the 7 Shapes file.
For my project, I had to manipulate the size of the belly band on both the pencil cup and the Post It Note Holder.  On the Post It Note Holder, I stretched it to make it longer and push the top down to make it thinner.  For the pencil cup, I copied and pasted a second one and overlapping them, I welded them together to make a longer piece.

I think it is fun to experiment with different shapes and see if I can make them into other things, like the belly bands.  I also used the Birthday Cake Box to create the pencil cup.  I only assembled the bottom so that it was open at the top.  The pieces that I did use were skewed so that the cup was taller than the original cake box would have been.
I also used the label shape a second time and sized it to fit inside one on the belly band so that I had a mat for the Remember This sentiment.  Stickers and paper from the Here and Now collection by Lori Whitlock for Echo Park make this a eye catching ensemble.
Lori Whitlock Supplies Used:
Sticky Note Holder 3  Holds up to 100 sheets of sticky notes
Here & Now Paper and Sticker Collection by Lori Whitlock for Echo Park